Senate Dems tying budget bump to innovation bills

Democratic members of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee said they will support biomedical innovation bills in committee but would try to block a vote of a total package on the Senate floor unless it includes mandatory funding for NIH and FDA.

The comments came on Wednesday at the second of three planned hearings to discuss proposed legislation that is part of the Senate's piecemeal approach to producing companion legislation to the 21st Century Cures Act (see BioCentury Extra, Jan. 19). ...